Singularis
by Jackadoodle
Summary: What if they found a cure...
1. Ground Zero

**Singularis**

Vis Uban. The place of Great Power. This was to be the capital city of the Ancient domain, the focal point of their empire and a place of great learning and peace. The city was, however, chaotic with construction engineers running to and fro, using advanced technologies utilised in the construction of Atlantus to build the mighty city. The design of the city mirrored, to an extent, the design of the city ship on Terra however Vis Uban was to be much larger and not confined to the snowflake like shape that Atlantus was. The city of Vis Uban was structured on and around three mountains which were to be connected via sky bridges. The architecture was elegant and precise, yet the city was warm and inviting. It was quite a sight to behold and rivalled even the beauty of other offworld colonies. When the light of the setting sun caught the buildings the entire city shimmered like molten steel.

A short distance away from the hustle and bustle of the city stood the Alterans greatest invention, the stargate or Astria Porta as it was known in their language. The gate activated and three individuals walked out of the event horizon and turned to face the city lit up against the coming darkness. One of the women turned to her companions; "You both know why we are here, the council were made aware of an issue in the medical centre and they have selected us to determine the source of the concern here, Oma, I believe you are the foremost expert in the field of evolutionary research yes?" Oma, a woman of few words merely nodded her head in affirmative. The young man with them was named Ly and he was an incredible mind, a visionary in the field of bio-medical science. The older woman began to walk to the city beckoning her companions to follow behind her. Their mission was one of utmost secrecy and so one by one, each of the Alterans activated a device on their shoulder and just as the last of the suns rays past from view, the trio fades into nothingness. Moving swiftly but silently, the trio made their way, undetected into the centre of the finished quarter of the city. This area was home to the medical centre and scientific laboratories and was one of the most heavily guarded areas in the galaxy as some of the most sensitive research was undertaken here.

On the other side of the city in an unfinished quarter a group of construction engineers were returning their equipment to a storage depot. One of the engineers suddenly began to convulse, clutching his head in agony. His colleagues frantically tried to hold him still as one ran off to get help. As quickly as it had come about, the young engineer stilled. "Ardwin", his colleague asked, "are you well?" Ardwin, who was feeling incredibly weak, could barely shake his head before collapsing into the man who was holding him. Unbeknownst to the assembled group of engineers, scenes like this began to unfold simultaneously across the city, the symptoms affecting all regardless of age or gender with men, woman and children dropping to the floor in agony, convulsing and ultimately falling unconscious.

Back at the medical centre, calls where coming in, informing the healers of multiple cases of convulsing and collapsing individuals all across the city. These symptoms were identical to the patient who was under observation in a secure and isolated wing of the facility. After a few hours, the facility was overrun with bodies, some alive and some dead. The symptoms got progressively worse with kidney failure leading to eventual death. The trio from terra were analysing the symptoms, cross referencing ailments in the database and isolating bacteria from the afflicted. After hours of research and study the trio, thanks to Ly's brilliance, were able to identify a genetically engineered pathogen in the victim's blood streams. The pathogen was unlike anything the trio had ever come across and they could find no immediate way to counteract the plague. They informed the lead healer of the facility, an elderly scientist named Rannik who ran the numbers; death rates and fomite reproduction levels of the pathogen before deciding that he must declare quarantine on the city using his authority to deactivate the stargate to prevent a quarantine breach. He also sent messages to all offworld colonies effectively cutting off the planet from outside interference.


	2. Escalation

The medical staff worked tirelessly over the next few days desperately trying to find a cure to the contagion which had all but spread to the entire planets population. A few of their remedies were successful in slowing the rate of reproduction in the host body yet it only gave the patient an extra few days at best. The chilling news wasn't over, however, as isolated cased began to emerge all across the galaxies. The contagion had breached the quarantine and spread across Alteran colonies in what could only be described as biological warfare. They could not for the life of them, however, determine the cause and origin of the pathogen. The best minds of Terra and its adjacent colonies where brought in via hologram to assist in the research and to offer comment of suggestion. But for all the great minds in Avalon, there was nothing could be done about the countless lives being lost in the galaxy. Most worlds soon enacted quarantine procedures of their own and soon only Terra was free of the plagues devastating consequences.

Also connected to the medical centre via hologram was the High Council who had been summoned to assess the severity of the situation. They, ultimately, had to make the inevitable decision as to what the people where going to do. On Terra there was 1,000,000 people who were, as of late, unaffected by the plague; terra did not have a single outbreak of the virus and the council where determined not to let this change. One of the councillors; Garrick, ruthlessly suggested that the survivors abandon this galaxy for a safer, plague free environment. There was uproar when the rest of the room pondered his suggestion. "How can you even think of something like that, Garrick, abandoning our people to this fate, I cannot believe your selfishness and tenacity", said Lani, another councillor, who was a gentle and sensitive soul. The anguish on her face as she tried to process what Garrick was trying to suggest was heart-breaking. What was most disconcerting, however, was that the rest of the council was really considering Garrick's words.

In fact, High Councillor Morden had really looked into it. He had reviewed the seed reports from Destiny and determined that, should they evacuate to a new galaxy, the first galaxy seeded after Avalon would be the new home for his people. The galaxy was lush in habitable worlds and had a working Astria Porta network in place. This coupled with the fact that the galaxy was only 3.26 million light years away. Morden really didn't relish the thought of leaving the vast majority of his people to their deaths; in fact the thought of it repulsed him. He had to think about the greater good and of the people who he could in fact save. Whilst being High Councillor had its privileges, he could not implement such a decision without a majority approval from the other councillors. Morden was confident that he could gain a majority support yet the thought about what he was about to do filled him with dread.

On the other side of the galaxy there is a planet high in ionised atmospheric currents due to increased solar output from the planets resident star where a select group of fanatic Alteran scientists worked tirelessly on a device which they hoped would turn the tide on the plague that had been inflicted on their people. They had been dabbling in the area of temporal mechanics and hoped to utilise the device and loop back in time to prevent the plague from occurring in the first place. The device worked by drawing static energy from the atmosphere. An alteran then needs to use the control altar and raise and lower the energy levels in a continuous burst allowing the energy to mount. The energy stored is then fired through eight pillars into the stargate. The stargate then dials a predetermined fourteen worlds, looping time on each world. In order to keep the memories of each loop, the user must stand in front of the directed energy beamed from the console. The scientists needed time before using the device as the orbit of the planet wasn't synchronised for harnessing the static energy from the atmosphere.

Back on Terra, Morden convened the council in the conference room in Atlantus, sealing the room with a mental command before turning to the councillors with a grim expression. He turned to his life partner Lani, seeing the anguish that appeared on her face as she realised the severity of the situation. Their son was on Verus Gen Bree; the central Alteran archive planet and one of the first outposts affected by the plague after Vis Uban. Morden knew that, as a father, he had an obligation to save his son but he knew that the good of the many outweighs the good of the one and he could not abandon the hope of salvation for the people of Terra for his only son. A single tear fell from his eye. He turned back to the council before announcing his decision. "I have come to a conclusion that the only way we can escape this plague is by leaving. Simply put, we must evacuate all of this planets population here to Atlantis. Using the star-drive we can fly to a new galaxy and begin our lives anew". Morden allowed the councillors to absorb his proposal and he watched as, one by one, the councillors stood up and declared themselves. The vote stood at five in favour, 3 against; and so the majority stood. Lani slumped over her desk and began sobbing. As a scientist she was taught to supress her emotions yet as a mother she could not bear the thought of her only son breathing his last breath reduced her to a quivering wreck.


End file.
